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Release Zoom Introduces New Multi-Effects 606 & 607 Press Release 606 and 607: Two New Pedals from Zoom giving Guitarists and Bassists a new way to Express themselves. Expanding on their most popular effects pedals, the 505II and 506II, adding more Effects, more Patches, Drive, Modeling and a built-in assignable Expression pedal, Zoom introduces the new 606 (for guitarists) and 607 (for bassists) programmable effects pedals. Each pedal features 35 effects types (9 simultaneously), 42 patch locations, a specific Drive knob selecting 11 Drive Types (including 5 modeling effects and 3 types of Amp Simulation), Up/Down Gain buttons and an Expression Pedal assign button complete with LED status. As you would expect from Zoom, the unit’s User Interface is straightforward and easy. It features a built-in tuner, Zoom Noise Reduction, a 2-digit 7-segment LED display and runs on 4 “AA” batteries or an optional AC adaptor. The new pedals have an MSRP of $175.99. For more about Zoom, please call (516) 364-2244, fax (516) 364-3888 or write Samson Technologies Corp. P.O. Box 9031, Syosset, NY 11791-9031. Or visit us online at www.samsontech.com. Release Roland CE-20 Guitar Chorus Ensemble Press Release The CE-20 Chorus Ensemble is the culmination of over 25 years of BOSS chorus experience. This programmable chorus pedal not only models classics like the CE-1 and SDD-320, but creates entirely new effects including chorus for bass and acoustic guitar. New "Brilliance" and "Ambience" knobs offer unprecedented realtime control over the chorus tone-making the CE-20 a pedal no guitarist should be without. Features: BOSS' finest chorus effects ever offered in a compact pedal 6 chorus modes: Rich, Bass, Acoustic, Standard, CE-1 and Dimensional D Brilliance parameter adjusts "sparkling" feel of chorus Ambience control adds reverberation to chorus for greater spaciousness 4 User memories with pedal recall Stereo In/Out and Headphone output BOSS 5-year warranty Release New Peavey DJS 4 Enclosure Press Release Peavey Electronics introduces the DJS 4 full-range enclosure aimed at the mobile DJ and club market. Packing a punch of 1000 Watts of program power, this 54” tall speaker is voiced especially for pre-recorded music, taking out the high to mids, and providing DJs with extra bass and sizzle. With 4-Ohm impedance, the DJS 4 allows your amplifier to function more efficiently and delivers almost twice the power as it would to an 8-Ohm speaker. The DJS 4 also features two Scorpion® 15” woofers with field-replaceable baskets and a 2-inch RX™ 22 driver coupled with a CH® 941 constant directivity horn. This enclosure also provides high-frequency protection. Covered with durable black carpet, the DJS 4 has handles on both sides and on the top and has built-in pocket casters for easy mobility. With extra bass and sizzle, Peavey designed the DJS 4 for pre-recorded music, creating a great sounding speaker even without EQ. Peavey Electronics Corporation is one of the largest manufacturers of musical instruments and professional sound equipment in the world. Peavey holds more than 130 patents and produces more than 2,000 products, which are distributed throughout the United States and to 134 other countries. To find out more about Peavey Electronics and its artists, visit www.peavey.com. Review Mackie 1202-VLZ Pro Compact Mixer Review Chris Bereznay Over the past year we have conversed with many of you, and whether through e-mail or our forums the feedback has always been enlightening. One of most interesting things about our readers we have come to realize is that the majority of you are either actively pursuing home recording or are in the process of acquiring gear for a project studio setup. This is no surprise, but nevertheless requires a little shift in focus on our part. To provide you with the content you need, Music Gear Review is committed to more reviews of gear that you can utilize in this environment. So when asked by our friends at Mackie a month or so ago what we'd most like to check out from a review product standpoint, we responded with a few answers. One of the products we jumped on was the 1202 VLZ-Pro Compact Mixer. The 1202 is a sweet little 12x2x1 ( 12 line inputs, 4 mono - 4 stereo ) mixer featuring 4 XLR microphone channels with Mackie's awesome dynamic mic pre-amps. The 1202 is the perfect beginner mixer for the home or project studio enthusiast. It's also a great asset to any experienced studio hobbyist or engineer. You never know how many uses there are for these units, and as you read on, you'll find out why. First off, the microphone pre-amps deserve a paragraph all their own. Mackie calls these XDR pre-amps which stand for 'Xtended Dynamic Range". These pre-amps have a 0-60db gain range which means they will take some serious "signal". Additionally, the 1202 boasts a 130dB dynamic range for 24-bit, 192kHz sampling rate inputs. These are high end pipes, folks, and this little compact mixer is built to take whatever you can run through it. Let's not forget a distortion rating under 0.0007%! Not only can these pre-amps take a super dynamic signal, they'll keep it clean too! But I won't bore you with specs. After all, only the most technical folks will be able to translate that garbley-gook. If specs are what you want, check out the Mackie product information page for this unit right here: http://www.mackie.com/Products/VLZ_PRO_Series/1202VLZPRO.asp As far as flexibility and sound quality go, though, we put the 1202 VLZ-Pro through its paces during its stay at the Music Gear Review crib. The majority of the time we were running the mixer as a front end to our DAW ( digital audio workstation ), but we also ran it straight into an amp and utilized it as a small PA mixer as well. You won't find these units to be cheap by any means, but value should always be gauged by quality - and there are oodles of that to go around. Recording with the unit was a breeze. We don't really have to worry about miking drums here, so if that's a need of yours you'll want to check out some of the other models with more XLR inputs such as the 1604 or 1642. For our purposes, though, the mic inputs were either used for vocals, miking our amps with Shure SM57s - or both. For one such recording session, we plugged our Alesis SR16 drum machine into one of the stereo lines and the bass and electric guitars went though their PODs into the other stereo lines as well. There are actually 4 sets of stereo line-ins on this mixer in addition to the 4 XDR XLR jacks! In these sessions, we had just about everything but keyboards. Keep in mind, though, you'll still have 1 more available stereo channel to run those into as well. The simple truth is that the sound quality of this mixer is excellent. The signals are clean, there's plenty of dynamic headroom and there is enough flexibility that this unit would be an asset in just about any environment. Recordings made with this unit in Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 were stellar - but don't limit yourself or your uses for the 1202. I've even heard of guitarists who use extensive effects rigs using Mackie compact mixers in live performances to patch everything in and out. We can't say enough about this unit, especially for those of you who are putting together a new home or project studio. You need to start out with a high quality cornerstone unit when you engage this type of project, and the 1202-VLZ Pro is a great unit to begin with. Bottom Line: The 1202-VLZ Pro carries an MSRP of around $450 and can be found on the street for close to $380 in some places. In our opinion, what you get is a professional quality compact mixer with the best sounding microphone pre-amps in this price range. Sure, you can pay less for a compact mixer from other manufacturers, but you know the old saying.. Release Hohner Introduces New Rockwood Drum Color Press Release A vibrant new color has been added to the Rockwood Drums by Hohner collection. Affordable Rockwood drums are now available in blue metallic, in addition to the colors previously offered by Hohner, Inc./HSS: wine red, black, metallic silver and metallic green. The new blue drums have arrived in Hohner's Virginia warehouse in time to ship to dealers before the busy holiday season. The Rockwood Drums by Hohner kit comes complete with 22"x16" bass drum, 12"x10" tom-tom, 13"x11" tom-tom, 16"x16" floor tom, 14"x5" snare drum, hi-hat stand and cymbals, bass drum pedal, snare stand, crash cymbal and stand, information packet, FREE pair of drumsticks, and a throne. The entire drumset retails for just $650. For more information, visit their web site at www.honerusa.com. Music Gear ReviewsMusicYo Yo-100 Folk Rig Acoustic Guitars Purchased from MusicYo.com for $79.99 (comes with gig-bag and tuner, guitar alone lists for $69.99). I was looking for a starter guitar for my son, and not knowing whether it would be something that he'd take to and stick with, I didn't want to spend $250-$400. Fortunately, I was also in the market for a new electric for myself and stumbled upon MusicYo.com. If you have any doubts whatsoever about MusicYo.com, let me alleviate them now. They are a class-act outfit with great products and service. I'm pleased that they are a sponsor for Music Gear Review. There's nothing to jump up and down about when you first lay eyes on this guitar. No fancy looks, just a spruce top (not laminate), rosewood fretboard, jumbo nickel frets, etc. The finish is nice, with no anomalies that I've been able to find. Once you pick this guit-fiddle up and start hammering out some chords is when you start getting a twinge of excitement. It's very bright sounding and has a smooth action. Once tuned, this flatbox played very nicely straight out of the box. Barre chords are easily attainable without feeling like you have to crush the neck if that helps speak for the quality of the action. The only gripe I had with the YO-100 is that it shipped with medium-gauge strings. I see no need for mediums on any acoustic. I tossed some GHS Phosphor Bronze extra-lights on it and wow! The action is super-slick and I gave up nothing in terms of tone, brightness or volume projection. As noted before, construction of the YO-100 is such that it looks nice, plays great and stays in tune. What more can you ask of a flatbox, especially for only $69.99. I've had $200-$400 Yamaha, Alvarez and Fender acoustics, and while they were a bit more fancy looking, they didn't play a great deal better. The gig-bag and tuner that come as part of the $79.99 package make this a great starter for anyone, or a nice "beater" guitar for campfires and such. Keep in mind, I only use the term "beater" because of the price. The quality of the YO-100 is such that it could easily be fitted with a pickup and taken on stage (and I can't say I condone the beating of any instrument..hehe). If you're not after fancy looks and just want a functional fiddle that sounds nice and plays nice, this is your guitar. If I had paid $200.00 for the YO-100, I'd be giving it a rating of 4, but the price makes it a 5. 5 Larry Oster Fender DG14S Acoustic Guitars I brought this guitar from the best music store in Newcastle, Australia - Musos Corner. I paid $400 AUD (although I think it had $499 on the sticker).I brought it as I wanted an Acoustic guitar so I could get that special acoustic sound from it, A sound that you can't quite get, even with an effects pedal on the electric. I have an Electric, but there is nothing like playing an acoustic. I think I like this guitar more then my electric! It's a great sounding guitar. Very light construction and a great finish. Gives me a very crisp and nice clean sound. While Fender dont go all out providing an exciting finish on the guitar, they do go all out to make sure the construction is great, which of course provides for great sound. Plus of course you have a "Fender" sitting on the guitar stand! Well, as it sits here right beside me on it's stand, I can see nothing that I dont like about it... Nothing. It plays really well, sounds great & looks good. I was supprised at the price - I played and seen many guitars which were a whole lot more expensive then this one, yet didn't really appeal to me and what I like in a guitar (Basicly a nice sound, with a good feel and easy to play). It's a very light guitar, and I'm scared if I bump it I will break it... But I'd also be scared if i were driving an expensive car! Nothing to worry about though, I have bumped it a few times, and I can't see any dents or scratches on it. If you take care of your equipment you'll be fine. If you're looking at a new acoustic guitar, this could be the one for you. When I were looking for an Acoustic, it had to be a solid top, very nice sounding, good strings, nice construction and reasonably priced. Well this guitar has all that. It's really worth playing this guitar to compare before you buy one. Even if your budget is a little higher then what this guitar is priced. You'll be supprised! You can see more details on the specifications of the guitar, along with a picture of what it looks like at this web site address: http://www.fender.com/acoustics/acoustic/dg14s.html 5 Jason Hicks Taylor 612CE Acoustic Guitars Bought at Uncle Ikes Music in Dubuque, IA for about $2,300. Like Taylor Like maple looks. I play fingerstyle and this guitar is great for that. Would like a little more bass sound Excellent. 4 Sam Deaver Fender DG14S Acoustic Guitars I brought this guitar from the best music store in Newcastle, Australia - Musos Corner. I paid $400 AUD (although I think it had $499 on the sticker).I brought it as I wanted an Acoustic guitar so I could get that special acoustic sound from it, A sound that you can't quite get, even with an effects pedal on the electric. I have an Electric, but there is nothing like playing an acoustic. I think I like this guitar more then my electric! It's a great sounding guitar. Very light construction and a great finish. Gives me a very crisp and nice clean sound. While Fender dont go all out providing an exciting finish on the guitar, they do go all out to make sure the construction is great, which of course provides for great sound. Plus of course you have a "Fender" sitting on the guitar stand! Well, as it sits here right beside me on it's stand, I can see nothing that I dont like about it... Nothing. It plays really well, sounds great & looks good. I was supprised at the price - I played and seen many guitars which were a whole lot more expensive then this one, yet didn't really appeal to me and what I like in a guitar (Basicly a nice sound, with a good feel and easy to play). It's a very light guitar, and I'm scared if I bump it I will break it... But I'd also be scared if i were driving an expensive car! Nothing to worry about though, I have bumped it a few times, and I can't see any dents or scratches on it. If you take care of your equipment you'll be fine. If you're looking at a new acoustic guitar, this could be the one for you. When I were looking for an Acoustic, it had to be a solid top, very nice sounding, good strings, nice construction and reasonably priced. Well this guitar has all that. It's really worth playing this guitar to compare before you buy one. Even if your budget is a little higher then what this guitar is priced. You'll be supprised! You can see more details on the specifications of the guitar, along with a picture of what it looks like at this web site address: http://www.fender.com/acoustics/acoustic/dg14s.html 5 Jason Hicks |
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